I may get drummed out of the Republican Party and have my conservative epaulets striped off (and I’ve got several old friends who may not speak to me for years) for this but I second Gary’s praise of John Drescher.

I met John so long ago I can’t even remember when, but I do remember I had a sort of skeptical view since he’d married one of an old Jim Hunt crony’s daughters. (Back then, I took politics a bit too seriously.)

At any rate I’ve – professionally – known John Drescher for a long time and as a reporter and editor he’s been fair, honest and willing to listen. Besides, he does a job where the main prerequisite is being willing to make people mad at him by publishing facts about them they don’t want to read in the newspaper. That takes a special kind of courage. And anyone who does that everyday deserves some praise.